A Metra express train speeds through sub-zero temperatures and 2 feet of snow as it approaches Bartlett Station in 2011. Although commuters have braved the cold in anticipation of catching the train, this one will not be stopping to pick them up.

A Chicago & North Western F-unit plows through 21 inches of snow in downtown Wheaton, Ill., in January of 1979. It was the biggest snowfall the town had seen since 1967, totaling more than 3 feet by the time the storm blew over.

This Iowa, Chicago & Eastern train has stopped at Davis Junction, Ill., to give its crew a chance to clear the platforms of snow that has piled up as winds over 30 mph have swirled around it for hours. This winter storm was one of many in 2008 that dumped snow and caused the Mississippi River to flood its banks repeatedly during the following summer.